5th November 2003, 12:18 PM
Quote: You seem to think connectivity is purely a gimmick to make Nintendo money. I do not. Is it as useful as they claim? Certainly not yet. But it has some, limited, potential...
Take that SMB3-E-Reader thing. Is it ridiculously expensive? Yup. However... it is Nintendo's only way of adding something on to a GB game. Given how much you want Nintendo to add on to its games I'd think you'd be happy that they're finally making extra levels for their games... (and they really are extra and not included in the system!)
Oh please, it's a pure gimmick. Instead of giving us these levels for free with Mario 3 (especially for those of us who are buying it for the third time), they expect us to pay around $70 for them. And they're not even that big of a deal! It's insane.
Quote:The Metroid thing is moronic. Zelda's is more useful. The demo-disc usage is a good idea. Pac-Man GC is unique and could only be done that way. Four Swords GC... I think the 'most on GC, some on GB' dynamic could work well. I can see how if they do it right they could make it so that the gameplay experience is definitely different from how you'd play on four GBA's... I mean, when someone goes into a building they dissapear. What are they doing? You don't know... so the other people might follow to see... it could make it interesting.
Four Swords and Pacman are going to be the only two games that actually make good use of the GBA connectivity, but even then they could have made it so much better by adding online support so that more than just a small percentage of GC/GBA owners will be able to play four-player mode whenever they want to. Are you going to get either game?
Quote:Crystal Chronicles? It seems pointless; a bar on the bottom of the screen is just as good. I see no real reason that your inventory should be hidden, or a map... there is no reason to hide the info from the other players, so its just a lame gimmick that will greatly hurt sales of the game. Keep it as an option, certainly... but REQUIRED? Insane.
So its definitely a mixed bag... but there IS some non-$$$ potential, definitely. You are too cynical, as is Nintendojo.
I've been a Nintendo fan ever since I was old enough to pick up a controller, so the cynicism is there for a reason, trust me. You didn't even have to live through the disastrous N64 days! That turned just about every die-hard Nintendo fan into a cynic. So many delays! So few games! Ugh, just thinking about it hurts.
Quote:Is it annoying to have to have a GBA to access certain features? Yes, absolutely! But if those features are truly different and could only really be done on a GB-GC linked game... I see no reason why not. It could add some features to specific games... they just need to stop using it for dumb stuff like they did in Metroid and seem to be doing in FF:CC.
So out of dozens of games that use the feature, only two upcoming ones are actually going to make smart use of it. Weee! And don't forget that this is Nintendo's replacement for online gaming.
Quote:Given the other two will, I actually think they well might...
I'm not betting on it.
Quote:Why is the E-Reader so super gimmicky? I don't get that... sure, they could release the stuff they released for it in GBA cart collections, but what's the huge difference about having the E-Reader? If you get enough of the games for it it might even be cost-effective...
You don't know why it's so gimmicky? Wow, you have much to learn then.
First of all, the stupid thing is $40 and the games you scan to play on your GBA cannot be saved. Each of these old NES game cards cost about $5 each, so if you were to get ten games and an E-Reader the total cost would come to $90, or about $9 a game. Nintendo could be releasing NES Museum carts for the GBA like Namco and Atari are doing with their old games, and then you could actually save your progress! It's extremely stupid.
Secondly, for games like Mario 3 you have to get an E-Reader and a bunch of card packs in order to get new powerups and new levels that are sort of remixes of old Mario 3 stages. The way the new levels work is that they just create new levels using the Mario 3 tile set, so what Nintendo could have done was include a simple level editor so that people could make their own levels. Then they could add in those extra powerups as hidden items. And to make things even better, if they had an online service then people could hook up their GBAs to their Gamecubes and trade custom levels. It would have worked wonderfully. GBA-GC connectivity with an online mode would be incredible, but without the online element then it is almost entirely a gimmick.
Quote:They will once the PSP comes out.
And how do you know that? They haven't announced anything of the sort.
I wouldn't be too surprised if they had some sort of PSP/PS2 connectivity going on since they love copying Nintendo's ideas, but it will most certainly not replace online gaming.
Quote:OB1, it does kind of sound like what GR is saying there... the guy goes on and on about how horrible Nintendo is and how they are just money-grubbing people while Sony and MS are better. That's crazy... sure Nintendo loves money but the other guys do just as much. If they had Pokemon they'd be doing the exact same thing. Is it annoying? Yes. But I can see why they're doing it... for Pokemon anyway. Some of that stuff isn't really excusable (the useless connectivity as a requirement and not an option)... but you go overboard. Nintendo just isn't that bad.
He never said anything of the sort. The editor recognized how Sony and MS are in it for the money just as much as Nintendo is, but the difference is that Nintendo makes more mistakes and is less willing to take risks than Sony and MS are (George Harrison even admitted that in the EGM interview I posted!). And with the whole online thing, it makes perfect sense. Nintendo makes more money with connectivity than they do with online gamine. They don't want to offer an online gaming service because they wouldn't make that much money at first. It's as simple as that.
Quote:The e-reader isn't that expensive, just so you know, well mine wasn't. It's around the price of the average game for GBA.
The E-Reader is $40, although it used to be $50. I don't know where you buy your GBA games, but I never have to pay more than $30 for one.